LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – One of the priorities for House Republicans as the minority party in the Michigan legislature is heightened transparency, particularly in the fiscal arena.

After it was revealed that the Chair of the House Appropriations, Representative Angela Witwer (D-Delta Township) likely had an overlap between her time in the legislature and work with her former firm, Edge Partnerships, there has still been no public investigation by House Leadership.  

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In March, House Republicans put forth a number of bills to increase transparency, including financial clarity, but the bills have remained in the House Ethics Committee, which has not met and discussed the bills. 

Representative Bryan Posthumus (R-Cannon Township), criticized a fellow lawmaker, Representative Philip Skaggs (D-East Grand Rapids) for his sponsorship of a bill which would expand potential zoning rights of solar companies, who has a familial connection to a solar company. 

“Having Representative Phil Skaggs and Representative Angela Witwer as lead sponsors on the house side of the ethics package is just absolute hypocrisy,” Rep. Posthumus said in an interview with Michigan News Source. 

He added that “A few days after he enrolled a bill forcing solar down our throats, his now wife, who is a lobbyist, picks up a client that’s a solar company.” 

With the likelihood that the legislature moves to adjourn without a return date on the books next week, Rep. Posthumus sees little chance that the House transparency bills will be considered, which were assembled without Republican input. 

“The House version of the ethics package was put together behind closed doors, not even inside of the ethics committee,” Rep. Posthumus said in an interview. “What is transparent about closed door conversations?” 

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“We on the Republican side of the aisle weren’t part of that conversation at all, nor were either of them discussed in the ethics committee,” he added. “We introduced our package back in March, that should have been the starting point for a conversation, they didn’t even introduce any of these until last week.” 

In late September, Representative Tom Kunse (R-Clare) attempted to bring the bills out of committee and directly onto the house floor for discussion, but was rejected. 

“The legislature, none of us, not the Governor [are subject to FOIA],” Rep. Kunse said in an interview with Michigan News Source, “How do I tell my cities and townships, hey you have to live by this set of rules, even though I’m not going to.” 

One of the bills, House Bill 4264, would forbid a member of the legislature from voting on a bill if they were found to have a conflict of interest, such as a “personal or professional interest in the bill, joint resolution, or alternative measure.” 

Looking ahead to next week, Rep. Posthumus anticipates that there will be discussion and a likely vote on the Senate version of the transparency bills, SB 613-616, noting that there ought to be more transparency on travel costs. 

“It is bipartisan, it is very much bare bones, still has some of the same issues that I have with the current house version,” he said in the interview. 

“It is a step in the right direction, anything we put forward is going to be better where we are currently at,” he added. “I’m hopeful we will be able to make some decent amendments on the floor to make it a little bit better.”